Retired army officer and security analyst Col. Festus Aboagye has dismissed claims that the pilot in last week’s Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) helicopter crash was not qualified.
According to Col. Festus Aboagye, the late Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala was very competent and highly trained.
Speaking on Channel 1 TV on August 13, he said Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala had been trained in aircraft investigations at Cranfield University in the UK and had even been invited back several times to give training in the same field.
Col. Festus Aboagye noted, “He was very competent.”
He said one should not make comparisons between the pilots flying different aircraft types as they were completely different types of equipment and therefore required different skills and qualifications.
Col. Festus Aboagye, giving some details on the flying crew’s credentials, explained that Squadron Leader Anala had 13 years of experience, Flying Officer Manin Twum-Ampadu had 5 years, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah had 14 years.
“Collective experience. That is the level of competence” he said, urging that “Ghanaians can throw away all that stuff that maybe they were not competent.”
The Z-9 helicopter crash in Adansi Akrofuom on Wednesday, August 6, claimed the lives of eight people, including the 3 Air Force crew members Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Manin Twum-Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.
The other people that perished are Defence Minister Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, Environment Minister Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Alhaji Muniru Mohammed, NDC Vice Chairman Dr. Samuel Sarpong, former parliamentary candidate Samuel Aboagye.
Investigations on the cause of the crash are still ongoing, and the Ministry of Defence has assured Ghanaians of transparency surrounding the crash.
